It’s officially here.

Kansas University basketball fans packed Allen Fieldhouse Friday to usher in the 2004-2005 season with “Late Night in the Phog.”

This year’s medley of skits, singing and scrimmages featured an appearance by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a group hypnotist, and, as always, plenty of dancing.

Taylor Schoenfeld, a student as West Junior High School who was attending her fifth Late Night, said the show before the midnight scrimmage was just as good as the basketball.

“The skits are always really funny,” she said. “And I like to see the players. Keith Langford is my favorite. He’s good. And he’s a hottie.”

For some fans, though, Late Night is less about being entertained than about demonstrating an unwavering dedication to the Jayhawks.

Lawrence resident Shayne Kahle has made it a tradition to be at the front of the Late Night line since 1998. He arrived at 1 p.m. Friday, some seven hours before the fieldhouse doors opened, with four others, including his aunt and cousin, who came from Arizona just for the program.

“We drove by a couple times around noon to see if anyone had gotten here yet, and at 1 we finally decided to set up,” Kahle said. “It’s hard to get tickets to the games, so this gives us a chance to get in the fieldhouse and see the players, and just have a good time.”

Kahle and his group beat the next group to arrive at the fieldhouse by half an hour, he said.

Kansas University basketball player J.R. Giddens serenades fans with a song by the Temptations during Late Night in the Phog at Allen Fieldhouse. Friday's event, attended by thousands of Jayhawk fans, kicked off the official 2004-2005 college basketball season.

Shanan Carson, Kahle’s friend who came from Emporia for the event, said just hearing the crowd made the wait worthwhile.

“There is just this electricity,” he said. “It’s the best part of the night. Absolutely.”

But despite the raucous crowd, for some of the younger fans, the “late night” part of Late Night was an insurmountable challenge.

Just moments before the men’s basketball team was to be introduced, Caleb and Joshua Axlund, 9 and 6, lay fast asleep under the upper-deck bleachers. Their father, Eric Axlund, wasn’t surprised.

“Caleb loves basketball,” Eric said. “But he’s never been able to stay up.”

Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self addresses a crowd of screaming KU fans Friday during Late Night in the Phog at Allen Fieldhouse.

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